A Future For Us
by Luna C. Starque
Summary: Erm... eh. It's a oneshot. Somebody dies, it's a bit sad.


_A/N: I'm not quite sure what to make of this, so I figured you can make things of it for me. Eh. Oh, and for those of you who can't remember, Kelly is Kenny's girlfriend in the episode "Rainforest Shmainforest." Yeah. Well, happy reading._

-_Luna_

She opens the door without knocking. Inside, the house is dilapidated and filthy. Used condoms and beer bottles with varying amounts of liquor in them litter the floor. The walls are scuffed and chipped with punches long since thrown.

Then he is there, standing in the threshold leading into the kitchen. She breathes in sharply. "I didn't think you would come," he says.

"I promised you."

He moves toward her, his expression unreadable. "Ten years ago..."

_They sit side-by-side on the bench at Stark's Pond. He has his arm around her, and is gently stroking her shoulder. Her head is on his shoulder. "When are you leaving?" he asks._

_"Tomorrow, in the morning." In the following silence, the wind grows colder, and he holds her close to him._

_"I love you," he whispers._

_"I love you, too." She grips him in her arms like a lifeline. "I want you to hold me forever."_

_"I wish I could," he replies sadly. "I wish I could be with you always..."_

_She hears the tacit "but" that always seems to follow these sorts of statements. "I wish you didn't have to do it," she says._

_"So do I. But it's something I can't ignore. I'm...driven... to do it."_

_"I'm not going to try to convince you not to." Another silence, pregnant with things they wish they could say. "We're doomed, aren't we?" He laughs humorlessly and nods. She fingers the cuff of his threadbare parka. "Kenny..."_

_"Mm-hm?"_

_"When you... do it... when you... kill him, I want you to call me. And I'll find you. I know nothing can stop you, but I want to be able to say goodbye one last time."_

_"Okay, Kelly. I love you."_

He is barely inches away from her_. _She studies his face. There is stubble on his chin, and he is smeared with dirt, and blood not his own. "So you did it." She is surprised at the steadiness in her voice.

"I did."

"How long, do you think, before they come for you?"

"I'm guessing an hour."

Suddenly, she throws her arms around him. "I missed you so much," she sobs. He kisses her softly.

Then the kiss changes. It's fast and hard and almost painful, but Kenny's kisses were always like that. Kelly kisses back with an equal amount of passion. Her tears drip down his face, almost washing away the blood and the dirt. As they kiss, Kenny's fingers go to the buttons on her jacket, and, within seconds, the jacket is gone.

Then her shirt. Then her jeans. Then Kenny's clothes are off, too.

They stand in the middle of the living room, completely naked, and still kissing as if there were no tomorrow. Kenny's passion is anger and elation, and leftover adrenaline. Kelly's is pain and regret and unconditional love.

Kenny is on top of her, almost within her, almost a part of her. Right before this moment, though, he pushes himself up on his arms, and studies her tear-soaked face. Her blonde hair is fanned out around her head like a halo of light. Her skin is pale and freckled, and her blue-green eyes are framed by thick lashes that shiver with tear-drops. "I love you," he whispers, kisses her hard once more, and sets to fucking her brains out.

_Like I always promised you could._

When they are finished, they sit up, gasping and kissing. "Put your clothes on," Kenny advises her. She obliges, as he does the same.

"So... I guess this is goodbye?" _Now _her voice is shaking.

"Yeah. They should be here any minute, and I'm requesting the death penalty."

She gives a dry sob, but quickly recomposes herself. "Why don't you just kill yourself?"

"It's a pussy thing to do. Besides, I want to have the pleasure of confessing. _I _want the world to hear me say, 'I, Kenneth McCormick, killed my sonofabitch, beer-guzzling, dirtbag of a father, and I'm proud of it.'"

Kelly blinks back tears again. "I love you forever," she says, wrapping her arms around him for the last time, holding him so tight it hurts.

"I love you, too... so much," He tells her, gently detaching himself from her arms. He kisses her one last time. "Take care of yourself. Now, I want you to go, because I don't want them to find you with me."

Their eyes meet, and a moment passes, full of meaning: the future they will never have. After what seems like an eternity, she forces herself to leave.

_Because he loves me. Because he wants me to have a future._

She watches the house from the neighbors' bushes. Not fifteen minutes into her stakeout, the sirens arrive.

Nine months later, she stares down at the tiny screaming being in her arms. His head is covered with thin white-blonde hair. His eyes, when they open, are blue. She names him Kenneth Stuart McCormick, after his father and his grandfather. Every time he kicks his little legs, she smiles sadly. He's so full of anger, and yet so helpless. "Aren't we all, baby?" she whispers to him. "Aren't we all."


End file.
